Cambridge Family Law Practice

An inquiry into disputes between the families of seriously ill children and doctors has been commissioned by the government.

Researchers will analyse the key flashpoints that typically trigger disagreement between affected families, carers and healthcare professionals, alongside the latest medical research and best practice in medical ethics. The resulting report will make recommendations for improvements at both a regional and national level.

The announcement follows the drawn-out controversy surrounding 12-year-old Archie Battersbee, who suffered brain damage following a cardiac arrest in April 2022, as well as the earlier case of Charlie Gard, who also developed brain damage, in his case in early infancy due to a rare genetic disorder. In both cases, the boys’ parents disagreed with doctors regarding the best course of treatment for their children, took their cases all the way to the Supreme Court, and even tried unsuccessfully to pursue them at the European Court of Human Rights. Both families eventually agreed to a cessation of treatment and their children passed away after their life support systems were switched off.

The Nuffield review will be supervised by the independent Nuffield Council on Bioethics. Conservative peer Lord Kamall is the former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Technology, Innovation and Life Sciences. He explained to fellow peers that the review would not be about attributing blame but instead:

“It will investigate the causes of disagreements in the cases of critically ill children between providers of care and persons with parental responsibility [parents]. It will look at whether and how these disagreements can be avoided, how we can sensitively handle their resolution, provide strong evidence and inform future recommendations to support end-of-life healthcare environments in the NHS.”

The goal was to help both sides understand each other better, he continued:

“As much as possible, it will promote collaborative relationships between families, carers and healthcare.

“Sometimes they feel that the medical profession acts like God. On the other side, there are medical professionals who believe that the parents do not really understand all the details. Let us make sure that we get this right.”

Danielle Hamm is the director of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. The aim of the enquiry was, she explained, to help families and medical staff “work through disagreements sensitively and collaboratively, and to resolve matters as quickly and fairly as possible so that all involved feel like their voices have been heard”.

The Nuffield Council invites interested parties to contact them via email.

Jeremy Ford, a partner here at Cambridge Family Law Practice, who has extensive experience of such cases whilst in his role here at CFLP and from his time working for CAFCASS, said:

“It’s not difficult to imagine how distressing it must be for the parents of a critically ill child to be confronted by doctors telling them things they don’t want to hear. Quite naturally, they want to fight on and try everything possible to save them, no matter how remote that possibility might be. As family law professionals we hope this report will go a long way towards bridging the gaps and making it easier for distraught parents and medical staff with the best of intentions to find common ground and alleviate unnecessary suffering in the future.”

If any of the issues raised in this post are relevant to you then please don’t hesitate to contact Jeremy or one of our other partners on 01223 443333.